Door To Door Tuition

I have not given tuition for quite a while, except for the two-month stint at a tuition centre conducting English lessons for a group of four children earlier this year. I have always been looking out for tutoring assignments and have applied for quite a lot but most of the time I have not been able to get it.

Recently, I applied for a job tutoring a kindergarten boy English. He will be going to primary school next year. A week later the agent replied and said I got the job and was asked to start the first lesson today.

So I went over to the boy's abode earlier. He seems a rather bright boy, able to speak and read well. However there are some phonics and grammar which he is still unsure about and his mother would like him to familiarize himself with the consonants and pronunciation of the words.

Today, being the first lesson, I went through some reading and common words with him, then had a chat with the mother. Overall the boy is not too bad, except he cannot sit still like a typical kid. I have come across worse kids.

The agent initially fixed the tuition day as every Saturday, three in the afternoon, once a week, an hour and a half each. However I prefer not to disrupt Saturday afternoons so I had the time switched to every Tuesday at half past seven in the evening, so I can drop by after work, and the parent is fine with it.

This Tuesday will be my second lesson. Hopefully the next session will go smoother than this first one!

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A Nation Of "Nice" And "Ones"

I have come to the conclusion that the people here are lacking in creativity in general. Anytime any building is erected, the name is always the road name.

For instance, when a cosy SoHo was built around the central part of the river, it is named "The Central". Then when another mall was erected in the middle of Orchard Road, it is called "Orchard Central". Next to it is a shopping mall at number 313 Orchard Road, so it is called "313@Somerset" (Somerset being the name of the train station behind the mall).

I wonder if people can come up with better names? Like when the budget terminal was being built, there was a contest for naming the terminal. Some "smart aleck" filled in the name "Budget Terminal" and won the contest! I suspect he could have done that for fun without thinking he would ever win. But the biggest joke is that he actually won with a name like that, signifying just how "creative" people are!

The one name that has been overused is the name starting with "One". For instance, any new development that comes up, it will always have "One", like One Commonwealth, One Amber, One Fort. Why One? Why not Two, or Three or Four?

And I have not even touched on the kind of small talk people have. Someone can ask, "How are you today?" with the answer, "Nice".

"This is a nice dress!"
"That is a nice hat! It looks so nice on you!"
"This dessert is nice!"
"I have a very nice boss."
"My boyfriend is very nice."

I often wonder, is our vocabulary so limited that we are only limited to using "nice"? How about other adjectives like "beautiful", "fantastic", "great", "delicious", "caring", "wonderful" and so on?

We are brought up in a bilingual education environment. Surely we know many more words and usages besides "one" or "nice"?

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Should Our Mother Tongues Be Dropped?

In the latest news, there is now a debate going on about the new proposed revamp of the Chinese syllabus and examination structure. This is to help those who are not proficient in their mother tongue and to give them a choice whether to take the subject into account if they do well for all the other subjects.

This is good news for the English-speakers who struggle with their mother tongues. But what about those who are more proficient in Chinese? Would it not be unfair? Or would it be because the English-speakers are generally the more affluent and better-educated, and the Chinese-speakers are not, hence the focus is on the better-educated and not on the not-so-educated?

For your information, my parents are Chinese-educated. They were from Chinese schools, when the Chinese medium still existed here before all schools became standardised into the English medium. They did all their subjects in Chinese. They did Chinese Literature. They only did English as a second language.

But did my parents lose out? Definitely not. They still achieved enough grades to go to the university for English-school students, instead of entering the university for Chinese-school students. Did they struggle? Definitely. My mum told me of professors from England who speak English with a thick accent and she always had to try to follow what they were speaking of.

There were no lecture notes, no slides. The professor spoke and the students just had to take down notes. Photocopying was unheard of in those days as one sheet was very expensive. Textbooks were unaffordable. The only alternative was to camp in the library and take down notes from textbooks.

But did she fail? No. She went on the Dean's List every year and graduated with top honours, outshining even those from the English-medium schools. So who said one need to be proficient in a certain language to survive?

Okay, the context here is on the Chinese language. The thing is, this is not the only generation of students who struggled with the Chinese language. Ever since the seventies, more and more people are becoming more and more educated, thus speaking only English (the language of educated people) and stopped speaking Mandarin. Hence their younger generation grew up not that proficient in the Chinese language.

But we still survived. We struggled, we cursed and swore, we had funny way of pronouncing words, we used words in all the wrong context. But we still passed in the end. Even though our (as in me and some of my friends) proficiency of the Chinese language is still very shallow and superficial as compared to say my parents, still we did not do that bad a job out of it.

Now with modern technology and students getting smarter and more outspoken, are you telling me they cannot cope when we could?! I find this totally ridiculous. So if students then struggle with Mathematics, is anyone then going to take that out of the examination altogether? Or struggle with science, or even English, would these subjects then be taken out?

The irony is that more and more Westerners (Americans, British, et al) are dying to learn Chinese. Some even want to major in Chinese in university. Now the China market is booming, in order to carve a niche, one must be proficient in the language.

Here, we are given bilingual education since young, and people are saying they want to drop the Chinese language because they find it hard to cope? Which subject is not hard? I find all my subjects hard. I find examinations a torture. But we still gritted our teeth and went ahead. Or has society grown to such a state that people give up at a slight difficulty? What kind of message are we giving the kids? There are harder things to deal with when they grow up, if they give up over such a small thing, how are they going to achieve bigger things then?

I have a cousin who is also English-speaking. He could not speak Mandarin to save his life. His parents sent him to Australia to study before he even finished his secondary school. Yet when there was an opportunity for him to go to Shanghai to work, he took it. The last I conversed with him this Lunar New Year, he was rambling away in Mandarin. I would not say his Mandarin is that perfect, but it is much better than before, even with a bit of the China slang.

So who says one can never master a language? It only depends on how determined you are and how you choose your life. I only regret I did not take up a third or fourth language, otherwise I could at least make conversation in a few other languages instead of being almost mono-lingual.

There are so many people in the world who wants the opportunity to study Chinese. We really should count our blessings and not take the education we have for granted.

The Chinese Language - A Foreign Tongue?

For the past several weeks until last Tuesday, there was a variety show on foreigners speaking / learning Mandarin. The foreigners come from places like United States, Romania, Israel, exotic places where there is hardly any Chinese people around, and no exposure to Mandarin. Yet these people are able to speak better Mandarin than me, what a shame (on my part)!

Of course their Mandarin is not perfect. They still need help in sentence construction and usage. And they are still unfamiliar with our local slang. But their pronunciation is very good already, hardly any foreign accent, they speak as if they are native speakers! That is why they put me to shame, as for someone who had been learning the language all the way until secondary and with parents who are Chinese-educated until pre-university, I still cannot pronounce the words properly!

Come to think of it, locals here are a narrow-minded and shallow lot. They always think they are the best, look down on others, but many people here cannot even speak English or Mandarin properly, despite coming from a bilingual education background. Some of the better educated people from so-called "lesser" countries can speak fluent English, and several other languages!

There are more and more people around the world learning Chinese, be it in speech or usage. If we do not upgrade and keep up, soon we will be left behind. Which is why I enjoy talking to someone more seasoned and worldly, but it is very rare to find a local here that is like that. Many I come across are too sheltered in their own worlds. They do not think of upgrading, yet get threatened by those who are too capable! Perhaps that is why these are the people who never improve and get left behind after a while, which is not a good sign for them.

Chinese Alliteration?

One example why you have to write Chinese characters properly :

Come to think of it, if I am to split the characters of my Chinese name up, it will sound suspiciously like a Japanese name ....

尽量过着开心的日子

又是很久没写中文了！ 以前需要管理一些中国项目，没办法， 只好重修中文。 后来中国同事来了之后， 就全部交给她， 我做回其他国家的法律助理兼顾客服务生。 如今， 同事要离开了， 我得做回以前的中国项目。 又要再度讲华语， 写中文， 读中文， 翻译文件， 真唉呀！

有时我发觉， 内心有很多悲欢离合时， 而且英语沟不了通时， 用华语还能沟通。 有时我觉得， 工作归工作， 只要大家开开心心， 合体工作，为公司服务，不就很好吗? 为何要你说我闲话，我说她闲话， 他说你闲话得这么过日子呢？ 为什么要把一间好公司的工作环境弄得这么糟？

不过我自己已经很幸运， 因为如果工作累的时候， 烦恼的时候， 我身边还有家人和朋友的照顾与关怀， 所以就算工作怎么不顺利，不愉快， 我还是尽量地照样那么开心， 开朗。 以前我的烦恼会放在脸上，所以一 不开心别人就会来问候。 现在我已经尽量不这么做了， 因为想一下，日子开心也是这么过， 不开心也是这么过， 为何要跟自己过不去呢？

Turn-Off Speech

I received an email from someone full of grammatical and spelling errors. In fact, the whole email was full of instant messaging and texting abbreviations, with bad spelling, punctuation and grammar! People know things like these rile me, perhaps due to my occupation.

The thing is, I am not so mindful about abbreviations. I am totally fine using "u" and "i", or "reli" and "tot" or "tok". But that is only after I am pretty familiar with the person I am talking to, then we use this to banter and chat on familiar and comfortable grounds. After all, once you know a person pretty well, you can be all informal with each other!

But if the person wrote to you for the first time, then there should be some form of formality, is it not? For instance, I received the email from the guy, who wrote to me for the first time. Be it knowing me as a client or a friend, if he is using an email to convey his message, but it only turns me off, then it defeats all purpose.

And it is not as if he is that young! He should be about my age or thereabouts! The thing is if I receive an email like this, my first impression is that he simply cannot be bothered to present himself properly. In that case, why must I entertain him and give him the attention if he is not even polite enough to convey his message in a proper way?

Alright, I know I am picky, but good language equates to good communication, and good communication equates to creating a good impression. It shows that someone is poised, refined, and bothers about how he / she treats others, instead of a lax attitude that turns people off. Definitely if I am to talk to anyone, I tend to talk to the former instead of the latter!

感谢曾经伤害过我们的人

I came across this meaningful article, about forgiveness and being grateful to those who have hurt you in some way, which I like to share, but it is in Chinese though. Took me quite a while to digest it, since my language is still not up to par!
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人生轨迹中会相遇两种人：一种人是帮助你的人，另一种人是伤害你的人。对于帮助你的人要怀有感恩之心，对于伤害你的人同样要怀有感谢之情。当然这种伤害是相对而言，不是所有的伤害我们都能谅解，过重的伤害谁也无法谅解，而伤害我们最重的莫过于亲人和朋友。

曾经伤害过我们的人我们要谢谢他们，因为他们的伤害才让我们坚强起来。逆境中能磨炼人的意志，让人变得更加坚强起来，因为他们的伤害让我们的内心世界波涛汹涌，发誓一定要让别人看看，看看让别人骄傲的一面。于是我们痛过后更加珍惜现在所拥有的一切，加倍努力完成自己心中的目标，是这种伤害激励着我们不断向前奋进。

曾经伤害过我们的人我们要谢谢他们，因为他们的伤害才让我们逐渐成熟起来。以前我们看问题总是那么简单，很容易相信别人，总认为是自己的亲人或朋友什么事都可以帮忙，什么话都可以说，当我们发现我们错了的时候付出的是惨重的代价，权当是一次次花钱免灾，花钱买教训，可是学费好像昂贵了一点，但它让我们懂得了什么是人生什么是生活，今后遇到类似情况后我们会三思而后行，会把问题考虑得周全一些，不让他们来伤害到自己，同时自己也不去伤害别人。

曾经伤害过我们的人我们要谢谢他们，因为他们的伤害才让我们有了今天的成就。每个人的一生都会经受很多伤害，在伤害中我们不但快速成长起来，同时学会了很多人情事故，学会了如何说话，学会了如何应对别人的谎言，如何在虚情假意中识破欺骗，如何识别肝胆相照的朋友。我们把这种伤害变成了激发我们的斗志和工作热忱，于是一步一步走向成功之路。

曾经伤害过我们的人我们要谢谢他们，因为他们的伤害才让我们学会了包容和理解，使我们的人生更加快乐和幸福。一个人如果一生生活在仇恨中，这个人的一生是很悲惨的，因为他一心想着去报复那些曾经伤害过自己的人，他的心中只有复仇，这股复仇的火焰燃烧着他自己同时也燃烧着别人。一个人的心灵每时每刻都不快乐，他还有什么？如果想想当时的情境难道我们没有错吗？也许亲人和朋友有难言之瘾，有他们不肯伸出双手拥抱你的理由，要学会换位思考。随着岁月的流逝当我们回想起当时的情境，冷静思索后我们还剩下多少恨？包容他们吧，只有这样我们才会快乐。也许有的人把伤害过你的人恨之入骨，但当你报复后你能快乐吗？也许有的会说只有我死了才能谅解他们，死后谅解他们又有谁会知道你已经谅解他们了，为什么不能在活着的时候谅解他们呢？所以快乐是一种包容和理解。让自己快乐一些吧，原谅他们吧。如果是自己的亲人和最好的朋友曾经伤害过你，多年以后请拿起电话告诉他们：当年是我的错，我要负全部责任。因为他们也在等待你这个电话，等待了许久许久。

曾经伤害过我们的人我们要谢谢他们，因为他们的伤害才让我们学会了什么是伤害。当我们自己经厉后深深懂得给别人带去的伤害是什么滋味，因为我们自己也曾经伤害过别人，今后我们不会再犯同样的错误了。伤害在我们的人生中是一种无法抹去的阴影，特别是亲人给予我们的伤害最重。如果父母伤害了你，他们是为你好，谁的父母不希望自己的孩子过得幸福，无论干了多少伤害自己亲人的事，父母都会原谅我们的伤害，在他们的心中我们永远是他们心中的孩子。为什么不替亲人想想，他们把我们养大为的就是伤害我们？为的就是让我们伤害他们吗？不是！他们仅仅想让孩子们好好活着，开开心心地活着健康地活着，我们心中的怨恨还要沉淀多久？

我们既是受害者又是责任者，你思考过这个问题吗？当你静静地想回忆这一切时，我们的心就会归于平静，因为我们每一个都有一颗包容的心，都有一颗博爱的心，我们不要伤害也不要去伤害别人，让我们快乐起来吧。

Playing Around With The English Language

This is one of the reasons why I love the English language!

1. My first job was working in an orange juice factory, but I got canned. I couldn't concentrate.

2. Then I worked in the woods as a lumberjack, but I just couldn't hack it, so they gave me the axe.

3. After that, I tried to be a tailor, but I just wasn't suited for it - mainly because it was a sew-sew job.

4. Next, I tried working in a muffler factory, but that was too exhausting.

5. Then, I tried to be a chef - figured it would add a little spice to my life, but I just didn't have the thyme.

6. I attempted to be a deli worker, but any way I sliced it I couldn't cut the mustard.

7. My best job was a musician, but eventually I found I wasn't noteworthy.

8. I studied a long time to become a doctor, but I didn't have any patience.

9. Next, was a job in a shoe factory. I tried but I just didn't fit in.

10. I became a professional fisherman, but discovered that I couldn't live on my net income.

11. I managed to get a good job working for a pool maintenance company, but the work was just too draining.

12. So then I got a job in a workout center, but they said I wasn't fit for the job.

13. After many years of trying to find steady work, I finally got a job as a historian - until I realized there was no future in it.

Plain English Speaking Award

Finally, it is all over! And I have been asked to sign up for this from my school, under the inter-varsity category. When was the last time I actually took part in any public-speaking? I think that was way back in upper secondary, when I took part in the inter-class public speaking competition. My topic was on the emerging trend of divorce in society.

Think that was the one and only time I actually took part in the finals of a public-speaking competition. Although it was just school-based and I did not win, but it was quite an achievement, considering ever since lower secondary, I wanted to take part every year my school organised it, but the first year, I was totally struck off by the British teacher, who told me to pronounce my "th" and "t" correctly and ensured all my consonants are correct.

So it is an honour indeed that my tutor asked me to represent the school. Wonder if I am over-age though? Anyway it is not that easy to get in. Even after I submitted the application form, I still have to get through an audition round with the panel of lecturers, and must be short-listed before I will be allowed to represent the school.

So what are the chances anyway? There are many others more articulate than me, many others more able to think on their feet, because the auditions include a prepared speech as well as an impromptu speech. And it is the impromptu speech that always make me lose marks. Oh well, I just have to see how things go!

A Chinese-Speaker .... Not!

I was taking the bus with my colleague from China last weekend, and we got engaged in a discussion on books by Eileen Chang (张爱玲). I know my mum reads her books, in fact I came across one of the books "半生缘" (roughly translated, "Fate Of A Half Life") on the bookshelf the other day.

Apparently, not everyone can appreciate Eileen Chang's books, but she was to China what Shakespeare was to England, even though they lived in totally different eras and cultures. Just like it takes a certain kind of linguistic flair and passion to truly appreciate Shakespeare, it also takes someone of great depth and intellect to be able to understand Eileen Chang's stories.

I have not read the books, although I am rather familiar with the gists of some of the stories. Apparently Eileen Chang writes about life and love, and her observations of men and women. But her messages are not that straight forward, one must really digest her books before they get what she is saying.

Anyway, my China colleague was remarking that she thinks my standard of Chinese is the best in the company, and that got me really stumped. I told her that so many of them speak better and more fluent Mandarin than me, whereas I still struggle over some of the words and pronunciation.

Then she said, anyone can speak, but I seem to be the only one who can actually read and write Chinese and able to translate into English and vice versa. Well, I have been through like twelve years of mother tongue lessons, so the basics would be there, would it not?

Anyone who has been through our local education system would be able to at least read and write in the mother tongue, right, especially those from Chinese or neighbourhood schools? Although I was from a mission school, but anyone who had been paying a bit of attention in class would be able to grasp the basic foundation.

So why is it such a surprise that I can read and write Chinese words and able to understand and explain the meaning? I do not believe those Chinese-speakers will do a worse job; in fact they should do a better job since they are more comfortable in the language, whereas I am still officially monolingual!

But my early education boils down to my mum. My parents are both avid readers, so even before I could speak, my mum would read a bedtime story to me everyday. An English story on odd days, and a Chinese story on even days. On Sundays, she would read stories of both languages, and taught me how to speak and recognise the words.

Maybe that is why I still love reading, even now. Although I read more English books than Chinese books, since I take double the time reading Chinese characters than English words, but still, it is a good enrichment. Just like music is the food for the soul, books are food for the mind. And for that, I am truly grateful for the foundation my parents laid out for me.

A Play With Words And Phrases

Currently, I am hooked on challenging and mind-stimulating quizzes. Here are a few which I absolutely love!

1. Intelligence Test Part 1

2. Intelligence Test Part 2

3. Intelligence Test Part 3

4. Intelligence Test Part 4

5. Intelligence Test Part 5

6. The Economist Style Quiz

Although the tests are so-called intelligence tests, they are more on word play and familiarisation of phrases and colloquialisms, as well as certain prior knowledge in sports, games, science, religion and politics.

So far, after numerous trial and errors, I managed to get all the answers right for Parts 1 to 4, but for Part 5, I could only get about eight right. The rest just totally eludes me. As for the Economist quiz, I only managed a score of eight. :-( Any of you managed to get all the answers, please let me know! :-p

Word Of The Day

Usufructuary. The new word I came across while looking through a document today. I have never seen this word before in my life and it was not recognised by Microsoft Word, so I did a search and apparently, this word does exist.

According to Mr Webster, "usufructuary" means having the use or enjoyment of something, or a usufruct of a property. I did a further search and found that "usufruct" means the legal right of using or enjoying the fruit or profits of something belonging to another.

In other words, it is the right to use and enjoy the profits and advantages of something belonging to another as long as the property is not destroyed or damaged or altered in any way.

So if I use someone's house as my own, enjoying all the facilities that come along with it, without making any alterations or damaging it, I will be deemed to own the house of an usufruct nature.

Well, one learns something new everyday. Language is interesting indeed.

Gesundheit!

I am almost mono-lingual. Besides English and some Chinese, I cannot speak nor understand any other language, despite the fact that I am rather intrigued by Bahasa, Japanese, Korean, and the European languages of French, German and Italian.

Reading wise, it is still okay as after all, if the letters are in English, or more precisely, the Latin alphabet, it is not too hard to read or make out the pronunciation. Which is why I am able to sing in Italian or German or French without much of a difficulty, even if I have absolutely no idea what I am singing or reading!

Although I had absolutely no idea what was going on, I still went to a German church service last Sunday. He has taken some German back in school, so he can read and understand German, even though he seldom speaks. And he has always wanted to experience the German service, so I went along.

It was just a normal traditional service. There are procedures of course, since it is of a different denomination altogether, but other than that, the structure of the service is pretty similar to a Catholic or some other traditional church services. There is still the opening hymn, preaching by the Pastor, the Apostle's Creed, prayers, more hymns and closing prayer.

Even though I have absolutely no idea what the sermon was about, I was able to fit in as I just followed the rest of the congregation when to sing and when to pray. The song list and hymn book were given to us beforehand, so we were able to follow the songs to a certain extent too.

Of course, it helps that I have a translator next to me. At least with his help, I was able to have an idea what the song(s) and prayers were about. Later he gave me an idea of what the sermon was about as well.

A pretty interesting experience, I should say. This is quite a good way to learn a new language. He mentioned that he may want to go for the German service again, which I concur, as sometimes it is good to explore something new instead of always sticking with the same routine. It is a good way to expand one's horizons too.

Sources Of Inspiration ....

My attempt at posting in Chinese generated quite a few responses. My first brother asked if I did it for someone. Now, must everything I do definitely for anyone? Can I not do it just because I feel like it? Why does nobody believe that I had a sudden strike of inspiration, hence the unorthodox post?

According to people who know me, they can swear that they have never ever seen me attempting to think or write in the Chinese language (those school essays did not count). I came from an English-speaking school environment, all the way until tertiary, so it is more natural for me to think, speak and write in English.

Come to think of it, lately I seem to have a lack of inspiration writing in English, yet when I start thinking in Chinese, all the words just flowed out. And why did I start thinking in Chinese in the first place? Perhaps it could be due to the communication with the Chinese lawyers lately. Or maybe because of my renewed interest in the Chinese culture and language. But whatever it is, that attempt makes me feel rather proud of myself, that I can still express myself relatively well in my mother tongue.

Perhaps after the tour around the beautiful English countryside, I can get my inspiration back again. Afterall, what better way to get inspired than to see the places that were the sources of inspiration of the famous authors?

为情所困的人生

很久没写华文了，今天灵感突然热血来潮，很想再次写一篇文章。 我华文一向来没什么水准，不过以前在学校时，反而是华文写作品被刊登在学校杂志里，而不是英文文章。 人生就是这么的讽刺，有时候很希望的东西一直都拿不到，而没希望的东西反而成功。

我知道我这次突然写华文，很多人一定会感到惊讶。 人家一定会认为我受到了很大的打击，所以突然做一些平时不会做的东西。 其实真的没什么，我只是突然很想再次写一篇华文文章，并不是为了什么。 说实在的，我很高兴已经过了十年没读或写中文，竟然还可以认识和记得那么多的字和词，已经很不错了！

今天要写什么呢？一直围绕着我一生的情。问时间情为何物，只叫人生死相询。难道真的只是 ”不在乎天长地久，只在乎曾经拥有“ 就够了吗？ 那为什么那么多人可以长长久久， 一生一世在一起呢？我是缘分已经错过了呢， 还是还未到来，还是已经来了但我没把握，或没掌握？ 人家说男人三十一朵花，女人三十烂擦砸。 目前，我已经烂了一大半了。 难道还得追寻自己的真爱吗？

什么是情？ 什么是爱？难道要像杨过和小龙女那样， 或郭靖和黄蓉， 甚至贾宝玉和林戴玉那样才算是真爱吗？ 爱情是盲目的呢， 还是日久生情呢？ 有时候感情来的时候， 真的没得解释。 但是，一个长久的关系， 真的只靠感情吗？ 还是需要更多因素呢？

十二年了， 失恋了四次。有三次是因为感情突然来，无法控制，但没好好想清楚到底是否合得来。 结果时间和青春就这样浪费掉了。 值得吗？我自己都觉得不值。 不过算了， 过去的事就别追究了。 现在和一位某君还算合得来，日久见人心，看看能发展的怎么样。不过我倒是希望能发展得很好喔！

那天遇见以前的未婚夫。 他和现任妻子过得很好，两个礼拜后就是他们的婚宴。 看到这种情形， 是有点心酸，但又有什么办法呢？ 以前的我会胡思乱想，幻想能不能再把他抢回来。我们毕竟也过了六年的恋爱生涯，难道他会那么绝情吗？ 不过后来想通了， 有些事真的不能勉强。 感情变了就是变了， 还能做什么呢？与其一直回念以前的日子，不如花点精神去向往以后的日子，说不定我会找到真正的幸福，更加快乐也说不定呢？

这时突然想起一首古诗:

月落乌啼霜满天
江风雨火对愁眠
姑苏城外寒山寺
夜半钟声到客船。

几天后就飞往伦敦， 马耳他， 西班牙和葡萄牙， 看到这表弟终于能成家立业， 我也为他高兴。 希望他往后的日子会过得快快乐乐！ 还要忠心祝贺我的好友七月底注册结婚， 也希望她和老公永远恩恩爱爱， 白头偕老， 开开心心创立一个幸福的家庭！

Word Riddle

This is really good!

The question : What common English word is nine letters long, and each time you remove a letter from it, it still remains an English word .... from nine letters all the way down to a single remaining letter?

And this is the answer :

STARTLING

STARTING

STARING

STRING

STING

SING

SIN

IN

I

The person who came up with this is a genius indeed!

Going Back To My Roots ....

Almost the whole of my life, I have what others may term as an "identity crisis". I used to be so conflicted between the various cultures and religion. For instance, being Chinese and a Christian, I always feel conflicted between the tradition of going to the temple and the practice of going to church. Whenever there are any Chinese festivals that fall on a special day in the church calendar, I used to feel torn between going with my parents or to go on my own to church.

So when I was growing up, especially with a mission school education, I started to embrace Western ideas and notions. Like how to be independent and not stick with the parents all the time, especially as a teenager. I scoffed rice and vegetables and preferred eating burgers, steak, potatoes and salmon. I read English books, listened to English songs and avoided anything Chinese - books, music, essays. Even when my parents or relatives spoke to me in Mandarin, I would answer them in English.

But this came with a price. My schoolmates were from English-speaking families, so it was still alright when I talked to them. When I left school and went for a higher education, perhaps due to the standard of the school and the course I was taking, my classmates and I still spoke English to each other. But when I started working, I realised that being mono-lingual really lost out, especially when I come across normal heartlanders whose first language is dialect.

That was when I felt inadequate. My previous boyfriends and their parents are all bilingual, so there was no problem communicating with them. But when we went out and I found it hard to even order a drink from the hawker centre as the person did not understand what I was saying, I always had to ask my guys to help me. My third ex even went as far as to accuse me of being arrogant and stuck-up.

Through the years, I started to rediscover the Chinese language. It is really a beautiful language in its entirety, not the crass sounding language spoken by the general public. When I saw how certain things can be better described in the Chinese language, more poetic and beautiful as compared to in English, I start to be more immersed in the language.

I started researching on the great poems of the Tang dynasty, and although I still cannot quite understand the meaning of the poems, I know they were very beautifully written and well-versed. Then I researched on Chinese history, and could even engage in a discussion with my best friend's youngest sister, who is majoring in Chinese studies at the university, to the astonishment and surprise of my best friend.

I started getting more interested in the books my mum used to read - those classic Chinese literature like "A Dream of Red Mansions", "The Water Margin", "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and "Journey to the West", as well as the Louis Cha's martial arts series like "The Legend of the Condor Heroes", "Return of the Condor Heroes", "The Heavenly Sword and Dragon Sabre", "The Smiling Proud Wanderer" and "Duke of Mount Deer", even the Wisely stories by Ni Kuan which my childhood friend loves.

I have not read those books in their entireties as my standard of the language is still not proficient enough to read the books in Chinese, so I have been trying to find translated copies of the books. Of course, a translation is not as good as the original. Imagine how is anyone to read Shakespeare or Chaucer or Dickens in translation? Somehow it is just not right! But before I am able to read the original Chinese texts of the books, I can only make do with a translated copy in order to know the stories. Once I know the storyline, the Chinese text will then be a breeze for me with prior knowledge.

I also find myself speaking more Mandarin than before. Where in the past I used to speak nothing but English, now I can adapt to the surroundings more and speak Mandarin when it is required. Through a bit more practice, I no longer speak Mandarin wth an accent; rather I am starting to speak more fluently. When I called the China lawyer that day, for once, I was able to converse in rather decent Mandarin, rather than a smattering of English and Mandarin.

I never ever thought I will ever say this, but I am proud of my culture, of my race, and my ancestry!

Pleasure To Pressure?

I sent an email to our Thailand counterpart, asking for a certain document I needed. And the reply?

"It is a pressure to hear from you. My pressure to send you the [name of document]. Please feel free to let me know if you need anything else. Always a pressure."

Hmmmm... wonder if I have said anything to cause them undue anguish??

Mastering A Foreign Tongue ....

I have always wanted to master a foreign language. Being proficient in just one or two languages is not adequate at all. In fact, I signed up for Japanese and French lessons as extra-curricular subjects after my PSLE, but at that point in time, I was too lazy to go for classes. :-p So now I am paying the price. :-(

I wish I did attend though, as my friend who took up Japanese as a third language was offered a scholarship to Tokyo University, where he studied all the way to his Masters, and is now the foreign diplomat in Japan. Perhaps if I have mastered another language, I will not be so linguistically inadequate right now.

Most of my friends know at least Japanese or French, not just at beginner’s level, but proficient enough to do translation. Not much of a problem if they go travelling, especially to certain French-speaking countries or to Japan. I will so like to go Japan again, but was afraid of my lack of linguistic ability to communicate properly.

My British pen-pal is a linguist. He majored in languages at Cambridge University, so he is proficient in French, Spanish, Latin, Russian, Italian, German and English of course! Ironically he scored ‘A’s for all the languages yet ‘B’ in his own native tongue.

I wish our education system can incorporate a foreign language into the school’s curriculum, like some countries, where the students can take up to two foreign languages besides the mainstream language(s). If we want to take up a foreign language here, we have to pay and go to private schools.

Not that the language schools here are that bad. My friends who attended some of those language courses rave about them, saying that the syllabus is structured, and the schools hire native teachers to teach the language.

Unlike the language elective courses in the university, where the students can choose which language to do a crash course in, students of those language schools complete the course really knowing how to speak the language.

If time and chance allows, I will want to take up formal lessons in Bahasa Indonesia, Japanese, French and Korean. I plan to start with Bahasa first as I think that is the easiest. At least now, after the crash course my friend gave me, with a little help from my Indonesian relative, I can understand a bit of what people say if they speak Bahasa to me.

I want to be able to go up to the level where I can at least read books or watch the shows in the native form of the language, instead of the translated version!